Saturday, April 26, 2008

Mu-ge the cat has gone on walkabout. Traceless.

Lake water enters the bamboo fence,Mountains surround the cottage.A recluse’s life avoids this world.The unused door hides behindA green moss hue;When a stranger passes,The white birds fly in alarm.Selling herbs, I taste and compareBut charge no price.I do some gardening,But love to do it unplanned.Why is the wooded path leadingTo T’ien-chu monasteryStill in autumnDeeply dreaming in blue?- Lin Pu

Six of us at Saturday Morning Practice consider hope as an obstacle.

There being no future, hope must have to do with what is in one's heart right now.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Vivian, in the drama W;T --(or Wit)-- says it is time for simplicity; time for kindness. She is dying.

All my life I have yearned for true reclusion,Days on end sought wonders beyond this world:Here old peasants enter their fields at dawn,And mountain monks return to their temples at night.Clear sounds come from pine-shaded springs,Mossy walls filled with ancient truths.I will lodge on this mountain forever,I and the world are done with each other.- Meng Hao-jan

At end her former professor reads to her about a bunny whose mother --like God -- will find it no matter where it hides; an allegory for soul being sought for by God.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Is death when self meets no-other?

According to Buddha’s words, once one has fully entered the world, there is no breach or need to leave the world. These words contain the principle of attaining Buddhahood by means of the world dharma. In the Kegon Sutra it is said: “the Buddha Dharma is not different from the world dharma, and the world dharma is not different from the Buddha Dharma.” Anyone who does not put to use this principle of attaining Buddhahood in the world dharma itself knows nothing of the real intentions of the Buddha.

Any and every occupation is Buddhist practice. It is on the basis of our atcual work that enlightenment is to be attained. Therefore, no work can be anything other than Buddhist practice.- Shosan (1579-1655)

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Earth is God's body.

A crowd of stars lines upBright in the deep night.Lone lamp on the cliff,The moon is not yet sunk,Full and bright without beingGround or polished.Hanging in the black sky is my mind.-- Han Shan (early 9th century)

Monday, April 21, 2008

Some of the irregulars on Sunday talked about the country. The disappointment was about the failure of the three branches of government, the failure of the press, and the failure of the populace to hold accountable any of the above. The question on the minds of the three men and a woman had to do with cognitive dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance is a psychological state that describes the uncomfortable feeling when a person begins to understand that something the person believes to be true is, in fact, not true. Similar to ambivalence, the term cognitive dissonance describes conflicting thoughts or beliefs (cognitions) that occur at the same time, or when engaged in behaviors that conflict with one's beliefs. In academic literature, the term refers to attempts to reduce the discomfort of conflicting thoughts by performing actions that are opposite to one's beliefs.(--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance)

We're the good guys. Those without health care are people not particularly smart. Elected officials do indeed have the good of ordinary citizens as their primary responsibility. The war in Iraq was to protect the United States. Everything to know about September 11, 2001 has been told. This president is not an arrogant idiotes (it's a Greek word) serving the whims of corporations and promulgating shadow interests of ideologues. Osama Bin Laden started it. Saddam Hussein was the most dangerous leader in the world. The economy of the United States is in only a temporary slowdown. The Supreme Court is the most honorable judicial body and did not commit a hellish mistaken criminal act eight years ago. America clearly supports the down-trodden and helpless, but, really, the Chinese need our silence (as we need their imports) in their struggle against Tibet. There is equal justice for all, rich or poor, in this great nation.

If we meditate carefully on the above postulates, we might see into and through them. Carefully, we might begin to care for our peril.

There is a destination that must be reached within a day. One person endures great suffering and continues to walk with the aid of a stick. The other person decides to rest on a rock because it is too much for him. When he lies down and looks up, he sees clouds drifting in the wind and hallucinates that the rock he is on is also flying in the air. Cheerfully fantasizing that he has already reached his destination, he wakes up to find that he is just where he was before. The first person who continued to walk has already completed his trek. Although the second one finds himself far from his goal, he thinks it is useless to regret his error.- Parable of Shakyamuni

The fire that destroys illusion longs to rage in our hearts and minds.

Do not be mistaken -- really -- we, at heart, long to be compassionate; we, in the deepest foundation of mind, long for wisdom and understanding.

The deception cultivated by the unwise and those devoid of compassion is not -- I repeat, is not -- how the true human being wishes to live in this existence.